Tony Butterworth

In this international week, and inspired by this article recently posted on World Soccer Talk, I thought it would be interesting to look at forming international teams out of players who play in the Premier League. Little did I know how much work this would be! There are currently players from 65 countries on the books […]

What a mess I am in. Despite my love of modern tools, music and life, I have a broad traditionalist streak when it comes to my soccer. Then, despite my passion for Manchester United and my dislike of Liverpool and particularly Luis Suarez, I have to accept that this last weekend’s decisions were wrong and […]

Let's start with a clear statement. I don’t really like international football and I hate international breaks. I didn’t used to have this feeling, but I do now. I should also add that while I live in the United States, I am English, since that may be a factor. The exception being the Euro Championship […]

Despite being a fan of one of the “big” teams I was quite excited when I first heard about Financial Fair Play. A system that could help balance the increasingly top heavy world of financial football. As a resident of the US, I could see how baseball, US football and basketball teams can quickly become […]

I love John O’Shea. Okay, it’s in that manly football fan kind of way, but still – I love John O’Shea. He’s my kind of player — not overly talented, not overly athletic and not overly handsome. But he will do a job for you anywhere, anytime, any place. Every team needs players like John […]

The relegation from and promotion to the Premier League is starting to shape up. Still room for decisions and intrigue but nowhere near as unclear as it was a few weeks ago. First, Premier League relegation. In my opinion the bottom six teams are still in the fight. Those above that could, technically, face trouble […]

Just like the bottom of the Premier League (which became even more congested this week), the top of the Championship presents a tangled mess of possibilities. With two automatic promotion spots on the line and playoffs for the next four, no one seems to want to grab hold of a position. Every time it seems […]

Who am I? I’m a 44 year old Brit who now lives in the US. I attended my first game in 1967, aged 6 months, and was a season ticket holder and Manchester United supporter during the dark times of the 70’s and 80’s (I’m ignoring my rebellious flirtation with Leeds United when I was […]

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has never held back on mincing words when it comes to the state of affairs in football today and his recent comments about the possibility of a militant attack on a football stadium almost came to fruition in Pakistan. The Sri Lankan cricket team was attacked in a pre-planned terrorist attack. […]